Educational Guidance Types of Guidance The word Guidance symbolizes the general process in which an individual unable to solve a problem or make a decision by himself receives assistance and advice from another person. The type of advice and assistance needed would vary from situation to situation. Therefore guidance may be of different types. Myres has classified guidance in to eight types. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Educational guidance Vocational guidance Recreational guidance Civic guidance Community service guidance Social and moral guidance Health guidance Leadership guidance What is Educational Guidance? Educational guidance is a process of assisting the individual student to reach optimum educational development. It is a sort of guidance that is only rendered to the student community. Educational Guidance helps the students to make right choices, as well as make adjustments in relation to schools, curriculum, courses and school life which contribute to the all-round development. Definitions of Educational Guidance 1. In the words of Brewer, “Educational guidance is a Conscious effort to assist in the intellectual growth of an individual.” 2. Arthur A. Jones defined Educational Guidance “as the assistance given to pupils in their choices and adjustment with relation to schools, curriculum, courses and school life.” 3. Ruth Strang regards Educational Guidance “as something intended to aid the individual in choosing an appropriate program and in making progress in it.” 4. According to Myers, “Educational Guidance is a process concerned with bringing about between an individual pupil with his distinctive characteristics on the one hand, and different group of opportunities and requirements on the other, a favourable setting for the pupil’s development or education.” 5. For Dunsmoor and Miller, Educational Guidance is primarily concerned with the student’s success in his educational career. It relates to the student’s adjustment to school and to the preparation and carrying out of suitable educational plans in keeping with his educational needs, abilities and career interests.” Objectives of Educational Guidance To help the student in the adjustment to the school environment, the peer group and the school curriculum To assess the individuals through psychological test and non-testing techniques To assess the needs of the individual for educational guidance To prepare a plan for rendering guidance services according to the needs of students To assist the child to secure information regarding the possibility further schooling To help the child to know the purpose and function of different types of schools To provide detailed information regarding eligibility criteria about various courses and training programmes To assist the pupils to understand their strengths and weaknesses To help the students in developing good study habits. To help the children in selection of subjects in accordance with their need, aptitude and interest To help the pupils in selecting the co-curricular activities To assist the children in using their leisure time most profitably. To help the child to participate in out-of-class educational activities in which he can develop leadership and other social values To help the child in building of a good social relationship To help the child in knowing the availability of scholarships, stipends, loans etc. To monitor the academic achievement of students and help teachers in dealing with high and low achievers To assist the students with special needs To help parents to deal with their children especially with special needs Need and Importance of Educational Guidance The need and importance of educational guidance can be discussed at the present juncture in the following way: Individual Differences If there had been no individual differences among the students, the need of guidance services would have never arisen. Guidance is needed because individuals differ in intellectual abilities, interests, motivation and also in their levels of aspirations. To cater to the needs of individual students, educational guidance is important to be imparted in schools. Checking the Wastage and Stagnation in Education We find that there is a huge wastage and stagnation in education. Many students fail repeatedly and remain in the same class for a number of years. They feel difficulty in learning or acquiring some or the other piece of knowledge and skill. It leads to the wastage of human as well as national resources. Such wastage and stagnation can only be checked through a suitable program of educational guidance. Making Right Educational Choices The students are often confronted with the problem of making selection or choice. There are diversified courses where they have to make selection of the subjects or activities. The wrong choice of a subject or activity may doom their career and future. Therefore, they should be helped by proper educational guidance in making right choice and decisions. Proper Educational Adjustment Adjustment to educational environment is essential for the proper educational growth and well-being of children. The child enters the school directly from his home environment. Here he finds a formal environment of education and gets experiences that are quite novel and strange to him. The child faces so many adjustment problems with regard to his educational environment. With the help of educational guidance children can solve their adjustment problems. Decision of Further Education Students in the present system of education rush to colleges or universities for higher education irrespective of their aptitude for higher studies. Many of them do so because they do not have appropriate knowledge of other professional courses or trainings. Therefore educational Guidance is important to provide proper guidance with regards to the suitability of the individual to pursue higher education. Making the Grade Educational guidance provides students help to progress satisfactorily in the course chosen. In our country, a large number of student fail in schools, colleges and universities because of lack of educational guidance. Education of Exceptional Children Generally in our schools, the teacher proceeds with the average student in mind. Therefore exceptional children are not benefitted by classroom teaching. Educational guidance is most essential for different categories of exceptional children. How to Impart Educational Guidance to Pupils Process/ stages of educational guidance The guidance worker by means of the various tests, personal interviews etc., tries to find out the students mental capacities, interests aptitudes, etc., and thus suggest courses that he or she is capable of pursuing. The process of educational guidance, like the general pattern of guidance process, involves three important phases: Collecting Information or Data In the first phase it is required to collect the full information or data regarding the people. The information like the following can be collected for this purpose: Details concerning his health and physique His intelligence and other cognitive abilities Details concerning his scholastic attainments His interests, aptitudes, attitudes and other personality characteristics Family history and background Details regarding his social and emotional development Details regarding the previous school attended. Details regarding his company and friendships. Various techniques like personality tests, achievement tests, intelligence tests, aptitude tests, attitude scales, interviews, questionnaires, rating scales, inventories, observations etc. can be employed for collecting these information or data. Rendering Guidance The next phase concerns with the work of actual guidance imparted to the needed one. It is rather a difficult task. It requires the complete analysis of the information gathered about an individual. On these bases certain conclusions are derived about his personality makeup and adjustment. These conclusions further provide a base for making decisions about the nature of guidance to be given to the individual in question. For example he is guided to select a course on a method of learning or a mode of study that suits his individuality as well as his peculiar environment. Follow up Program The work of guidance worker does not stop with the rendering of guidance but it requires some more efforts on his part in the form of some follow-up program. Under this program the progress made by the child is evaluated. On this basis, required steps if necessary are taken for giving him any further guidance or necessary changes are introduced in the previous guidance program. Under every situation, it is to be seen that the child becomes able to solve his educational problem-development or adjustment. It happens, then and only then we can think about the success of a guidance program.
